The Morning After

I woke up, thinking I had heard Harrison but the flat was quiet. Sunshine was creeping into the room, it was early morning. Over my waist, I felt a warm, heavy arm. It rested there gently.

I knew I had to move away from him to go check on Harrison in a few minutes but I decided to wait in Richie's arms until Harrison woke up. This was exactly where I wanted to be, every single morning. Richie felt warm behind me, making the futon much warmer than it usually felt in the morning.

A whole fifteen joyous minutes I was able to spend in Richie's comfortable warmth. Did he know he was doing this or was it unconciously? I didn't mind, he was there and I was going to enjoy it while I could.

Harrison woke up quietly. He wasn't loud, just loud enough to let me know he was awake.

Carefully, I moved away from under Richie's arm, careful not to wake him up or disturb him.

Dressed in shorts and a loose tshirt, I quietly made my room around the small flat. Richie was right, it wasn't much, the rooms were plain except for Harrison's. His room had everything he needed.

I quietly walked into his room and picked him up out of his cot and cuddled him for a second before going to change his nappy.

The boy was his usual happy self as I carried him back to the living room. Even though Richie was still asleep, I put Harrison on the futon bed, it wasn't high and he often played on it. He knew where to stay and to stay on it.

I left him with sleeping Richie as I went back to the kitchen where I could still see the both of them on the futon.

Taking care of Harrison's breakfast first, I made him a bottle with formula milk, it was the easiest and cheapest but also gave him all the nutrients he needed in a day.

I checked the fridge for something Richie and I could eat.

To my surprise, I heard a giggle from the living room. I quickly put what I found on the counter to look around to the sitting room.

Harrison was laying down next to Richie, giggling as Richie played with him. I hadn't heard him wake up but was glad to see him have a sweet moment with his son, even if it was without me. I figured he needed a minute without me too.

Instead of interrupting, I continued cooking, letting Richie have a few moments to get to know his son. He deserved that just as much as any other father would, if not even more. He was right, he had missed a year in Harrison's life, which wasn't nothing.

Breakfast finished, I brought it over to the futon and sat down on the side where I had slept and where Harrison was laying right now.

"Hungry?" I asked Richie.
"Thanks." He said, sitting up on the bed, getting comfortable and able to eat.

I passed him a plate with with eggs, toast and ham, hoping he would like a simple breakfast for now. He accepted the plate and eagerly started eating.

Harrison drank his bottle by himself so I was able to eat too.

"So you leave for work soon?" Richie asked me.
"Yeah, in half an hour."
"And you'll be back by noon. So I can see Harrison the rest of the day."
"Of course." I agreed. I wanted him to see Harrison but I couldn't trust him to stay alone with Harrison for an entire day. Other than being Harrison's father, he was still pretty much a stranger to me.
"What about tomorrow?" Richie asked.
"If you can make it over, you can visit as often as you'd like."
He nodded, looking as if he really appreciated that.
"He's your son, he has to see you too."
"I don't know about tomorrow yet." He said, thinking it over.
"That's okay."
He shrugged, "I'm busy all month now but I want to see Harrison too. We need to talk about this when you're back from work."

I agreed, he was right. We needed to figure something out to make this all work. He had a very busy schedule right now but after that, there had to be some way that he would be able to see Harrison more often.